


Dysfunctional Gamer

by BubblegumQueen



Series: Dysfunctional [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, 더 게이머 | The Gamer (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Character Study, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Insert, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tony Stark is secretly a cat, Video Game Mechanics, Woke up in Avengers, Young Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-09-07 06:01:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16848496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubblegumQueen/pseuds/BubblegumQueen
Summary: Willow was just your average geek/gamer. No real ideas in regards to what she wants to do with her life. No real goals or aspirations. She much prefers playing video games in her room to actually going to school. But, she, unfortunately, ended up making a mistake. A stupid wish in a moment of weakness. Said wish led to her being brought into the Marvel Universe where her skill set can actually be put to good use.And now the world is her game and she's the best player.





	1. I'm a little Dysfunctional

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is a story that I used to have posted on another site that I have thusly left after a period of time. Now, this story was one of the most popular ones I'd ever written, for some reason. But, looking back on it, I find it so much more cringy than I remember. But, regardless, I have decided to continue it after much thinking and after taking almost a year off from writing in general. This story is a self-insert as well as being inspired by the comic, The Gamer. It's different, of course, but I did get the whole premise from it. Also, I will be adding tags and characters and relationships as the story goes on and progresses so keep an eye on the tags to get an idea as to what's coming... or spoilers, if you think of it that way. 
> 
> Oh! I have a Pinterest made for this story as well as the others I'll be posting and working on:
> 
> Pinterest: TheBubblegumQueen
> 
> Also, I will be looking for a potential Beta to help with editing as I do tend to get wrapped up in my own writing that I can miss the most obvious of errors, hehe. Anyway, I'll stop distracting you and let you get to reading! Hope you enjoy it!

**-D-**

 

_"I'm a little Dysfunctional, don't you know?_

_If you push me, it might be bad._

_Get a little emotional, don't you know?_

_You could fool around and make me mad._

_I'm a little Dysfunctional, don't you know?_

_If you push me, it might be bad._

_Get a little emotional, don't you know?_

_Might fool around and make me mad._

_Don't make me mad."_

_\- Dysfunctional by Tech N9ne ft. A bunch of other people_

 

**-D-**

 

“ **No, no, no, no, NO! James, take the left! Greg, back up and heal! I’ve got the right-no, Aaron. Don’t you dare go for it! We’ve made it too far for you to just risk it all and go for the chest!”**

 

It was 2:14 in the morning on a Friday-well, Saturday now.

 

The setting took place in a small apartment in Brooklyn, New York. And, at this very moment, our main character was in her room playing the MMORPG game, Tragic Falls. She and her friends were currently playing through one of the most difficult dungeons in the game and they’d been at it for 4 hours now. And they were **so close.**

 

They’d all been practicing and leveling up for the past few weeks in preparation.

 

Hours upon hours of sitting in front of a computer. Cup after cup of coffee. Falling asleep in class and getting detention. It was all worth it, it all led to this moment.

 

They’d had it planned out to a ‘T’.

 

They’d blow off school and stay home, practicing and doing a few missions to get some more XP and gold to buy more supplies. And between the 4 of them, they all had their own roles to play.

 

She was the leader, of course. Considering she was the highest level of them all and was the best at strategy? A no-brainer. Greg was the healer of the group. Stocked up on health potions and health spells, he was their support. Not strong on the offense but a ‘must-have’ on missions. James is the ‘takedown guy’. Amazing at stealth and ranged kills. Brutal with a bow and arrow. Aaron, on the other hand, is all brute force. Armed with an axe and heavy armor, he is no joke. Less with stealth and speed and more into bursting into a fight and going on a killing spree.

 

And then there was her, Willow. Willow O’Neil, to be exact.

 

She was the mage. Powerful spells capable of destruction and also capable of good things. But, to be honest, who cared about good things? Destruction was more fun.

 

She took pleasure in going around and destroying enemies in such a large and open world. She was able to step into the shoes of her character and raise some hell. What more could she want?

 

Besides, she was pretty fucking good at it. So, what’s not to enjoy?

 

Anyway, they’d spent the entire day getting as prepared as possible. And, at 8 on the dot, they began. They met up at her in-game house to go over the details of their plan. They needed to make sure everything was going to go as smoothly as possible. They needed no fuck ups.

 

So, as prepared as they’d ever be, they set off towards the mountains. In the mountains, there was a secret cave. And in this cave, there are many enemies and lots of traps. But, should they make it to the end, there would be a huge chest. And in the chest, there would be so much loot. It would be amazing! Not to **mention** the praise they’d get as a team.

 

So, yes. They were beyond excited and were prepared for anything!

 

…

 

Keyword being: Were.

 

Now, in this game, there is a twist. If you die… it’s over. You’re dead. Your character is gone and will never come back. Now, if your character had gotten married and had kids? You can get reincarnated into one of your children and you’ll have to start over again as the kid and  **grow up** into a badass. Luckily, you’ll get to keep any household funds you have and you’ll still have any residences so you won’t be fucking homeless.

 

But even then, most people rage and give up for a while. Reason? They died! They spent so much time leveling up their character and getting the best armor and best weapons. So much effort and attention gets put into the game. And to just die and lose all that? It would destroy any hardcore gamer who spent so much time on it.

 

So, yes. There was the risk. And besides, none of them had any kids to reincarnate into. Like, Greg has a wife in the game and she’s pregnant. But, she’s not going to give birth for another 3 months in game. So, they have a lot riding on this. They die in the game and it’s over.

 

But, they were cocky. All above level 70 and with some sweet armor and weapons? They thought they were on top of the world and that nothing could bring them down. And considering how hard they worked to prepare? Failure wasn’t a possibility.

 

They were invincible…

 

… and now?

 

Now, they’re so fucked.

 

It was a disaster. They arrive there and, as it turns out, they weren’t alone. Other players were there too. Lots of other players. And they were already fighting each other. So when her group showed up?

 

It was on.

 

But, it wasn’t too bad. The other players were level 40 at best and they were clearly in over their head. So, fighting them was no real problem. No, not a problem at all. Instead, the real problem came up when all the other creatures from inside the cave came outside. Apparently, they heard the noise and came out to investigate.

 

And when they found out that someone trespassed on their turf? It was a massacre.

 

Her group originally had a more stealth-based plan. But, they were forced to just fight blindly. It was everyone for themselves. Group vs. Group vs. Group vs. Horde.

 

All of which equals to: Insanity.

 

And that leads to the present, where this chapter began.

 

Willow was panicking. She has never been so afraid in her entire life.

 

She’s played this game for years and there have been many close calls with death. And usually, she just laughed it off and continued on to the next adventure. But, in this case, it was different. Back then, she was no one special. Her character was a level 10 or below with no real ties. She’d met her best friends online later on so, at that point, she was alone.

 

She had no real home. No relationships with any characters. Hell, she was still an in-game virgin at the time. She wasn’t dating anyone and had no children in mind to continue her legacy. She was a nameless traveler. If she were to die there would be no real loss. Sure, she’d have to start over with a new character at level 1 but, other than that? No loss.

 

But, now?

 

She was a level 104. And while it may seem like an ungodly amount it wasn’t. She’d ran into another character who was a level 512. So, yeah. She was no god. However, compared to normal players, she was a force to be reckoned with. She had her own house, her own home. A nice 2-story house with a pet cat. She had somewhere to return to after an adventure. A nice bed and some pleasant company.

 

There was a guy she was interested in. His name was Andrew and he was 22. She was 20 in-game. And she’d been chatting with this player for about a few months in-game. (However, you can get married and stuff with an NPC as well.) She really liked him and was honestly thinking about talking with him about the possibility of a relationship. She has plans!

 

Not to even mention her friends! In real life she was a nobody at school. The only thing she was known as was the ‘Chick-Who-Is-Fuckable-But-A-Geek/Nerd-So-Therefore-Unapproachable’. But, in the game? In the game, she was a sexy mage. A seductress that all the men and women wanted. She was craved and desired. And her best friends were able to look past even that and see her for who she really is.

 

She has so much going for her now.

 

She has something to live for.

 

And so, for the first time in a long time, she is panicking. She could truly die. Her group was surrounded, fighting off players and a multitude of creatures ranging from orcs to skeletons. Her group was running low on health and Greg was out of potions. Some having been used and some having been stolen by the baby skeletons. (Fucking skeletons, surprisingly sneaky despite their appearance.) And there was nowhere to run and things are looking grim.

 

Sure, she’s trying to dish out instructions and orders as best she could but it’s no use. Her friends and she knew that. It was game over. But, they could still put up a fight. And fight they were.

 

But, sadly, it was over. She was the first to go, actually. One of the players, who she’d apparently fucked over in the past, shot her with an enchanted arrow.

 

**-112 HP**

 

Willow could only watch in horror as her character dropped to the ground, dead.

 

Willow wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there. Headphones on with the sounds of her friends dying. Microphone hanging by her lips, lips unable to form words to describe how she felt. Wide, dark brown eyes staring at the black screen, the words ‘GAME OVER’ taunting her of her failure.

 

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before finally settling on closed.

 

Her right eye began twitching before she snapped.

 

With a scream, she threw her headphones across the room. The next 5-10 minutes were a blur. She only remembered the anger and the disbelief.

 

Next thing she remembered: Coming to on the floor. She was on her back, face wet with angry tears. Destruction all around her from her loss of control over her temper. _6 years._ She thought numbly, eyes refusing to move from their position on the ceiling. _6 years of my life… wasted on this game. I’ve wasted my teenage years... I just… I just wish I could get away. Start over…_

 

Her eyes finally closed as the exhaustion set in. _I’ll clean up tomorrow._

 

**-D-**

 

Willow was awoken by the loud sounds of traffic. Her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. Her hands went to the long strands of her red hair and she used it to cover her face in some feeble attempt to muffle the noise. She rolled over onto her side and curled up, wishing the noise would stop.

 

 _Geez, is it me or is my floor a lot harder than I thought? And why the hell is the traffic so loud? It’s never_ _**this** _ _noisy._

 

And finally, after trying to block out the noise, she sighed loudly. “Feckin’ ‘ell!” Her strong Irish accent was only visible because she was tired and angry. Yes, she’s Irish. Usually she uses an American accent to prevent any confusion in regards to what she’s saying. But, sometimes, she just couldn’t help it.

 

Like now.

 

“Someone better be dyin’! If not, someone’s gettin’ slapped.” She stumbled onto her feet, rubbing her eyes as she stomped towards the general direction of her window.

 

“Now, wha’ de ‘ell is goin’ on he-AAHH!”

 

She had luckily finished rubbing her eyes and was able to look in front of herself. And just in time to as she was about to walk off of a roof. She managed to catch herself in time and, with a scream, fell backwards onto her ass. She quickly moved away from the edge, eyes wide with fear.

 

She clutched her pounding heart, unable to comprehend what just happened. _I almost died. Like, died in real life died. Like, not coming back from that. Like, I almost fucking died!_

 

She looked around frantically, body shaking as she tried to figure out what the hell was happening to her. “Where am I? ‘ow did I ‘et ‘ere?” She placed her head in her hands as she tried to force herself to think. What happened this morning when she fell asleep on the floor?

 

_Okay, let me think. After falling asleep I… I don’t remember anything. I didn’t even dream. I just woke up here. On the roof of a building._

 

When she felt panic begin to swell up again she tried to calm herself. _No, think logically. You were asleep. In your room. You’re a light sleeper. If anyone would’ve kidnapped you, you would know. You would’ve woken up. So, that couldn’t be it… but then how the hell did you get here?_

 

And it was then that a random quote from herself popped into her head. _“I’ve wasted my teenage years... I just… I just wish I could get away. Start over…”_ Her head snapped up and she stumbled to her feet. “No… it ‘an’t be. No, no, no, no, no, I’m jus’ mental. I’m asleep. I ‘ave to be.” She was pacing back and forth, hands hugging herself for warmth. After all, she only wore her knickers and a jumper. She was freezing her tits off.

 

She tried to think of other possible solutions and answers. However, she was coming up with a blank. The only thing that kind of fit was her wish to… “Start over.” She whispered to herself. She paused in her pacing, with a scoff of disbelief at her situation, before giving a sarcastic response to the sky. “’Da fuck is this crap? Ya jus’ plopped me inta’ the plot of a Fanfiction story or some shit?”

 

And right as she says this, a white box pops up in front of her. “Bloody hell!” She curses, jumping back. She stares at the floating box in front of her with wide eyes, chest heaving. “I’m gonna have a fuckin’ heart attack before de end of de day. Watch.” She mumbled to herself in disbelief.

 

It was those pop-up boxes. You know, the ones from your computer that pop up whenever you do something that requires confirmation. It looked sorta like that. With dark blue heading on top and a small ‘X’ at the top right corner. It was about the size of her head as well. She eyes the box with a distrustful expression before stepping closer, eyes moving across the lettering.

 

**Congratulations on completing the tutorial! Now that you’ve come to the realization as to how you’ve come here, you are now ready to know. The world around you is a video game in a gigantic computer. You are the only real element. You can use your… unique skill set to change the world around you for better or for worse. What you do with your abilities depends on you. The world is your playground. Your laptop is behind you. It is your only connection to your previous world. Use it to control this world. Also, just a tip once you’ve opened your computer, click on ‘World Simulator’ on your laptop.**

 

**Enjoy your ‘Start Over’!**

 

Willow must’ve re-read it over and over again a dozen times. Each time she read it she felt the disbelief grow bigger and bigger inside of her. She shook her head slowly before releasing the breath she didn’t know she held.

 

“‘oly fuck. I am in a Fanfiction.”

 

She eyed the box again before slowly raising a hand to it. And when her hand reached it, she was able to move her hand through it as if it was not even there. Her eyebrows furrowed before her eyes flickered over to the ‘X’. She quickly moved her hand over to the X and let her hand ‘touch’ it.

 

She was proud to admit that she only jumped a little bit as the box disappeared.

 

And it was then that she remembered what it was that the box said.

 

She quickly spun around and there it was. Sitting innocently on the ground, her laptop. She quickly moved over to it before plopping down on the floor in front of it. She pulled it onto her lap before opening it and turning it on. “Let us see what de big ole’ box was talkin’ about.”

 

After quickly typing in her password she was greeted by the same old desktop background. A picture of Deadpool flipping her off with the caption ‘Fuck off’ beside it. She pushed aside her lustful feelings for the Merc with a Mouth as she began eyeing up the different icons on the screen. Her eyes moved past the many game icons before landing on a new one.

 

“World Simulator.” She whispered to herself as she looked at the small picture. It was just a fancy looking symbol for an eye against a black background. “Not creepy at all.” She mumbled before double-clicking on the icon.

 

And, much to her surprise, it loaded not even 2 seconds later.

 

There were no fancy openings or anything. Just an all black background with 5 buttons to click on.

 

**Start**

**Options**

**Character**

**Inventory**

**Exit**

 

‘Exit’ was pretty self-explanatory so she didn’t give it a second glance. The other options were much more interesting. She decided to hold off on the ‘Start’ button and instead decided to go to ‘Options’. She clicked on it and it immediately went to a different page.

 

 **Allow pop-ups?** **Yes** **or No**

 

 **What color would you like your pop-ups to be?** **White** **or Black**

 

 **Allow cheats?** **Yes** **or No**

 

 **Do you want to give up? Yes or** **No**

 

 **Do you want to see character stats?** **Yes** **or No**

 

**Save**

 

Willow was wide-eyed at the options at first. However, it became pretty clear as to what each one of the options were and what they meant. The only ones that were unclear were the ‘Character Stats’ and the ‘Give Up’ options.

 

She began biting her lip in concentration before deciding to try mousing over the options to see if she could get a description. And after mousing over the ‘Character Stats’ options she was happy to see that her hypothesis was correct.

 

After a small fist bump to herself, she began eyeing the lettering quickly.

 

_**Character Stats: Everyone in this world has their own stats unique to their character. STRENGTH, SPEED, AGILITY, STAMINA and INTELLIGENCE are the basic stats. 1-100 are human-level and 101-200 are non-human. The level will also be shown as well as the name of the species. (Health and Mana will be present of course.) Also, you will gain a small description of whoever’s stats you’re looking at. Disabling this action will prevent it from being used unless you use cheats. While enabled, to see a character’s stats you’d simply look at them and say, “Stats”.** _

 

Willow took the description in stride and without much confusion or shock. Honestly, with everything she’s going through at the moment, nothing can surprise her anymore. Next, she moves over to the ‘Give Up’ option for a description.

 

_**If you choose to give up you will die. This is the only other way for you to die in this world. Enable this option only if it is the final choice you have.** _

 

Willow couldn’t help the chills she got after reading the description. It’s not the idea of death that freaked her out necessarily. After all, she was quite different with her mindset in the regards that she is not afraid of death. More afraid of how she would die, that’s the thing. However, in this case, what bothered her was how… final it sounded in this case. Just reading the description made her feel uneasy for some reason she couldn’t quite explain. Maybe it’s the way it was worded and just the feeling it gave? She wasn’t sure.

 

She shook off her feelings before going back to the main screen.

 

Next, she moved over to inventory.

 

With that screen it simply showed a large box with 40 boxes inside of it. And at the bottom there was a dollar sign with 0.00 beside it. She presumed that she was able to somehow put objects from this world into her inventory to keep for safekeeping. And, with that, money was added and kept there to. _Made sense,_ she thought with a shrug before going back to the main screen.

 

There, she clicked on the ‘Character’ button.

 

She would be lying if she said that she wasn’t a little surprised when she saw what the screen was.

 

On the right, there was her. In the exact same clothes she was wearing. And everytime she moved her cursor, the mini-her would follow it with her eyes. “Creepy.” She mumbled before she decided to leave the cursor be and instead look at everything else.

 

To the left there were her stats. Her eyes moved over them in a strange feeling of curiosity.

 

**Name: Willow O’Neil**

**Age: 18**

**Level: 1**

**Species: ???**

**Class: Gamer**

**Health: (200/200)**

**Mana: (200/200)**

**STR: 10**

**SPD: 15**

**AGL: 13**

**STA: 12**

**INT: 89**

**Description: Willow was a young girl brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a careless wish. She is now an entirely new species with the abilities to see the world as a video game and hack the world around her. She could be a force for good or a force for evil, it is her choice. Either way, she would have fun doing it.**

 

By the end, Willow was staring at her laptop screen with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. “M-Marvel? Wait… am I? Wait…” She stood, laptop cradled in her arms, as she looked around at the city around her.

 

After twirling around like an idiot she finally stopped when she saw it. It was kind of hard to miss.

 

“Stark Industries.” She breathed in disbelief, staring at the building currently being built and constructed.

 

And after staring for a few more minutes she was able to finally tear her eyes away from it. She turned her attention back to her laptop as she sat back down. “Okay, I’m in de ‘vengers universe. An’ based on ‘ow the tower looks… the movie hasn’t happened ‘et. An’ considerin’ it isn’t even built… I’m ‘ere wayyy before the events of Iron Man 1.” She began chewing on her lip as she thought about everything that entailed.

 

“Fuck. ‘ell, at least I’m at genius intellect.” She grumbled to herself as she clicked away from that in order to move back to the main menu. She paused when she saw the ‘Start’ button. She began weighing the pros and cons before ultimately coming to an agreement with herself. “’hat’s the worst tha’ can ‘appen?”

 

She closed her eyes and clicked it.

 

She waited for an explosion or something horrible. However, there was nothing. Just silence. She waited a little longer before opening one eye to see.

 

It was just a black screen except there was another box just… there. A green box. And in the top right corner there was a question mark.

 

Willow opened both eyes and stared at the screen in confusion with a bit of disappointment. “Well, tha’ was quite anti-climatic. Performance issues, huh? Eh, no bother. You are gettin’ a bit up there in age.” She gave her laptop a loving pat before going and mousing over the question mark.

 

_**Here, you will do your cheating/hacking. Just type in whatever you desire and it’ll happen. Try it!** _

 

Hacking. Cheating. There are those words again. Being used in such a way that, to be honest, she did not understand. And if there was one thing she hated, it was not understanding something.

 

But, to play along, she decided to try typing in a cheat code.

 

Hundreds ran through her head for a good minute before she decided on one. “Let’s go with a little money cheat, hmm?” She clicked on the large box before quickly typing:

 

**testingcheatsenabled true**

****_**Cheats enabled.** _

**addmoney_1000000**

_**1,000,000 added.** _

 

Literally right after she did the cheat another box popped up in front of her. Willow did jump a little bit however she got over it with minimum cursing and instead just read it.

 

**$1,000,000 was added to your funds.**

 

 _So, that’s how this works…_ A smirk reached Willow’s lips as she turned her gaze to her laptop. And after a few clicks she returned to her inventory and there she could see that the money counter on the bottom changed to a million dollars and there was now a little button beside it that said ‘Withdraw’.

 

And, after clicking the button, a small box popped up where she could type in the amount. She typed in ‘100’ before pressing ‘Enter’. And then, less than 2 seconds later, a $100 bill appeared on her keyboard. Her jaw dropped and she was left staring like a complete idiot.

 

She quickly snatched the money and began analyzing it from all angles. And it was true… it was a real $100 bill. A small laugh escaped her and a big grin appeared on her face. She literally just typed in a cheat code to get money. **Real** money. If this worked then… what other cheat codes worked? And could she maybe hack the world around her and, like, move stuff or change colors and stuff like she could with Tragic Falls?

 

“ **This is gonna be awesome.”**

 

She admitted with disbelief still in her voice.


	2. Heathens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Willow basically comes to terms with how batshit crazy her life has now become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and welcome to Chapter 2 of Dysfunctional Gamer! The response to the first chapter was truly AMAZING. I can't thank you all enough! All of you who gave kudos, bookmarked, and even just took the time to read this, you are truly awesome and I truly appreciate it. In this chapter, you'll get a better feel for the pacing and kind of style this story will have for the next couple of chapters. (I enjoy changing things up if it calls for it.) 
> 
> Anyway, I won't hold up too much of your time being a spazz - oh! I almost forgot! I want to thank the user 'TheOneKrafter' for their lovely comments as well as their help with giving me ideas for cheats. (Which is something I'd love you all to help with!)
> 
> Ahem, now that I have that out of the way: Enjoy!

**Her stats:**

**Name: Willow O'Neil**

**Age: 18**

**Level: 1**

**Species: ???**

**Class: Gamer**

**Health: (200/200)**

**Mana: (200/200)**

**STR: 10**

**SPD: 15**

**AGL: 13**

**STA: 12**

**INT: 89**

**Description: Willow was a young girl brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a careless wish. She is now an entirely new species with the abilities to see the world as a video game and hack the world around her. She could be a force for good or a force for evil, it is her choice. Either way, she would have fun doing it.**

**-DG-**

 

Willow is... conflicted.

Okay, let's explain because... yeah, you're probably confused.

So, last time we saw Willow she'd just been sucked into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She'd discovered that she'd been able to hack the world around her and change things. She had stats and such, very reminiscent of a video game. In order to test it out, she gave herself $1,000,000 using a simple money cheat code.

Now... as for what happened afterwards...

Well, after understandably freaking the **FUCK** out, she decided to do some more... testing. For “research” purposes.

However, the first thing she did was take a few minutes to fangirl about the fact that she was in the MCU. After all, she was a huge geek if it wasn't already blatantly obvious. And she was living out every geek's fantasy at that moment. If she could, she would totally go online and blog about it just to rub it in everybody's face.

After she calmed down and took a few deep breaths she decided to try and find a place to stay until she could figure out how to get back to her own universe. But, before leaving the roof, she spammed the fuck out of the money cheat (more specifically, the motherlode cheat from Sims, just another test) and ended up with a lot of money.  **COUGH** $5,000,000 **COUGH**.

So, with laptop in hand, she left the roof going down the fire escape on the side proving that she was, in fact, on an apartment roof. And it was when she got onto the ground and onto the actual sidewalk that she came to a startling realization.

There were people walking around dressed in older clothing from the 60s or 70s. There was no one walking around with headphones or an iPhone. There was a lack of unbelievably unneeded buildings of extreme heights. And the most startling thing? The thing that proved something was really, really, really wrong?

**Bell. Bottom. Pants**

She could literally feel the bile rising in her throat and had to take a few seconds to force it back down. Fucking bell bottoms.

After she was able to come back to her senses she had a startling thought.

_Am I in the 70s?_

As the thought dawned on her she felt her heart rate increase. If there was one thing Willow could not stand, it was the thought of going into the past. Ever since she was a young child she'd always felt that the past was simply... horrifying.

With everything that had happened before the 1990s and such? How could she not? She was a history buff when she was younger and let's just say that books and google were her best friends. Mix that in with an insatiable curiosity and... yeah, a fear of the past and grudge against the human race was created.

And could you really blame her?

Some of the most horrifying events in history came from humans. Whether it be greed, some sick and twisted sense of righteousness, overall cruelty, lust, you name it! So, yes. She's had this sort of... fear and disinterest in going to the past since she was young. And what do you know? She gets sent into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for fucks sake and what happens? She doesn't get set down in the events of Iron Man 1 or during the Avengers - something she could probably deal with.

No, she gets dropped down in the 70s or, uh, something around there!

Just her luck.

So, after her mini panic attack was over she managed to calm herself and think things through logically. She first knew that she needed an exact date. She couldn't live off of estimates to get through this. So, she walked down the somewhat familiar streets in the direction of this steak house her family went to once for her birthday. Of course, considering she's a vegetarian she didn't eat much other than a salad and soup but she remembered it being really good so... yeah. Besides, the place allowed walk-ins from what she remembered and the bathroom was right by the entrance so she could totally sneak in.

_Peter Luger, 178 Broadway. Peter Luger, 178 Broadway._

She repeated the name and address over and over under her breath. According to the doctors, with the IQ she has, she has spatial memory. An advanced form of it. She can remember anywhere she's been with vivid detail. It's not photographic memory considering she could not remember anything else with as much confidence and vividness as places. Although, if she somehow got smarter she would probably develop it. And with that thought, she got an idea.

After about 20 minutes of walking and ignoring stares she arrived at the restaurant. She looked around quickly before ducking inside. She was right of course, the bathrooms were right as she walked in, however she had to move fast as there was a woman right there. _Someone to greet people as they walked in and show them to their seats_ , her mind supplied. Before the woman could look up to greet her, she ducked into the woman's restroom.

She let out a sigh of relief at being in privacy. However, just to be sure, she listened for any sounds in the smaller restroom. After taking a few seconds to put her laptop down on the sink and just breathe, she managed to keep herself together. It was actually starting to set in for her.

_I might not be going home. Actually, scratch that, I'm definitely not going home._

She's read and written enough fanfiction to know that the female OC never goes home. (Except for that one Doctor Who fanfic where the female OC gets sent back to her regular life for a few years before being brought right back. Still kinda plays into her realization though.) The OC thinks it's a dream or let's herself fangirl the fuck out at first. However, it usually becomes evident after the first adventure or so that they're not going home.

And she's having that realization earlier because, well, she's her.

And now that the adrenaline and somewhat excitement were wearing off at a fast rate (Quicker than she'd thought it'd be, admittedly) she was having multiple thoughts about this.

_She would never see her mother again._

_She would never see her baby brother or sister be born._

_She would never be able to see if her mother's baby daddy was up to the proper standards._

_She would never see her best mates again._

_She would never find out if Greg would grow a pair and ask out Karen Whilkins._

_She would never be able to help James with his campaign for Student Body President._

_She would never grab Aaron by his leather jacket and snog the fuck out of him until they both were forced to pull apart by sheer lack of oxygen._

_She would never graduate from **her** highschool and give the best 'Fuck you all' speech of all time._

All these thoughts whirled around in her head, constantly yammering for her attention. And, after taking a minute or two to breathe and push those thoughts and feelings to the back of her head, she was able to open her eyes and look to her reflection.

She looked tired (Not that she got a full nights sleep it seemed), grungy considering she hadn't taken a shower since the morning previous, and awfully hungry if the slight aches in her stomach were anything to go by. She hadn't eaten since breakfast which was nothing more than a bowl of crappy and stale cereal and watery milk. She hadn't had time eat since then.

After patting her stomach in a coaxing gesture, she looked down at her clothes. She really had to do something about her clothes. She'd certainly be arrested for public indecency or something. The only reason she'd made it as far as she did was because there weren't too many people out. Probably because it was earlier. Speaking of which...

She pulled her laptop to her after moving away from the sink (sliding to the right). She opened it before quickly typing in her password and unlocking it. She bit her lip in contemplation before pulling up the 'World Simulator' app and going to the hacking page. She thought for a few seconds, doing her best to remember what the hack was. _Wait,_ she thought, immediately deflating,  _I would need to somehow highlight me so that I could do some editing._

And it was then that another idea came to her, an idea that made her grin at the mere thought of everything she could do if she was right. Quickly moving from the hacking page as fast as she could, she moved over to the Character Screen.

Seeing herself follow the mouse was still creepy but she tried not to pay it more attention then she needed to. With expert motions she held the 'ctrl' and 'shift' button before pressing the 'c' key. And then the screen dimmed a bit and a thin black box appeared at the top of the screen stretching across the top.

Willow gave a fist bump in victory before quickly typing in:

 

**testingcheatsenabled true**

**Cheats enabled**

 

After doing that she held the 'ctrl' and 'shift' buttons again before clicking on her avatar while doing so. Immediately multiple options showed up around her, very reminiscent of the Sims 3 except with a different color scheme of black and red with hints of purple.

 

**Change/Modify Skill Points**

**Change/Modify Appearance**

**Allow eye-tracking? Yes or No**

**Change/View Clothes**

 

After reading over the new options she immediately clicked on 'Change/View Clothes. Doing so caused the screen to change. While it showed the same thing everything had shifted over to the left and on the right side there were 9 slots going from up and down. The slots had little words above them saying in descending order: Head, Makeup, Top, Bottom, Under Top, Under Bottom, Shoes, and Accessories. There was a small tab connected to the slots with a plus sign on it.

But, she did notice that a few slots were filled. The 'Top' slot was filled with a picture of the jumper she was currently wearing. Mousing over it showed some stats:

 

**Starter Jumper**

**Just a jumper. What'd you expect?**

 

**-Some protection against cold.**

**-Weak against heat.**

 

Her eyes narrowed at the attitude coming from the description. She moved away from that article of clothing to the other. The 'Under Bottom' was taken with a picture of her... underwear. She wasn't the blushing type but she did turn a little pink. Deciding to not mouse over that, she took notice of an icon on the bottom right that wasn't there before. It had a small picture of a shopping cart with the words 'Buy Clothes' beside it.

Feeling excitement blossom inside her, she quickly and eagerly pressed the button. Doing so took her to her internet browser Chrome. After it loaded (unbelievably quick might she add) she realized she was on Polyvore. She gave a pleased nod before she realized something quickly.

Polyvore was founded in 2007 from what she could remember. It was... she finally looked at the date and saw that it was 2 June, 1976 at 7:58 AM. After letting out a quiet 'yes' at being right she went back to the matter at hand. There are multiple things wrong with this.

How does she have this internet service when at this time period? HA! You're funny.

How does she have the right date but yet everything else is the same?

How does she have Polyvore when it hasn't been invented yet? And these clothes are all modern! Actually, no. There's a new tab on the site that says 'Time Period'. That's self explanatory. But, the fact that she could choose what clothes from which time period she wanted was weird enough. It proved that she still had some connection to her real world. And after going through the bookmarks and stuff and seeing that all her stuff was there she was even more confused. Why would all this stuff still be here?

Willow clicked on one of her bookmarks that led to the site, Fanfiction. The site loaded and she was still logged in for fucks sake! There were still the update log that said that the latest update was the 21st of February. 2016! So... did that mean what she thought it meant?

She quickly went to YouTube and had never typed so fast in her life. She quickly searched for 'Avengers Moments' and there were the same search results that showed stuff from the movie. And it was then that she could no longer deny it. She even tried one last thing, typing in 'Robert Downey Jr.' into Google Images. And all she got was an entire screen full of Robert's beautiful face.

It's true.

Her computer is still her computer. She can google, YouTube, wiki, and all that stuff! Everything is there! The only thing that's different is that the date and time has changed to fit the time period. She let a big grin overtake her face now that it was fully confirmed. No loopholes or anything.

But, this was amazing.

So much information about the Marvel Universe at her fingertips. Videos and webpages dedicated to showing all the Marvel Characters and their most deepest and darkest secrets are out there for her to see. It's like walking down the street and seeing random people around you and knowing every single thing about them from the day they were born to even the day they die with some of them.

She licked her dry lips as she thought. _This is awesome,_ she allowed herself to think happily. And it was then that she unconsciously shivered. It was still freezing and she needed clothes. “Right, back to the matter at hand.” She mumbled as she went back to Polyvore and went to the time period tab that prompted her to type in a date. She glanced at the date again before typing in the full thing and hitting the search button.

She was then taken to a page full of stylish clothes from this time period. Don't get her wrong, she may be a nerd and a geek and whatever BUT... she still had one fuck of a sense of style. And she was gonna rock it.

It took 15 minutes but by the end she had a full outfit picked out. And she could hear people coming into the restaurant so she needed to really hurry up. She'd forgotten that some people came to this place for breakfast which, if she had to say, was pretty good.

She had picked out a white high-waisted skirt with a black belt that fell to her knees (Maybe an inch above at the most). Then a black long sleeved shirt with buttons that had a white trim that she tucked into her skirt. She then wore a pair of black heels with a strap. She then finally chose a large bag that she could carry her laptop in. After adding those things to her cart she clicked on the 'buy' button and as she did so a low 'cha-ching' sound came from the laptop. She jumped a little at the sound and was a bit surprised as **-$136** appeared in front of her for a second. She wasn't surprised at the cost considering how high profile and fashion those items were. Very pricey for the time period but worth it.

She minimized the window before going back to the Simulator App. There she went back to the slots before mousing over the 'Top' slot where the jumper was and actually clicking on it. There, a few options popped up prompting her to: **Remove Item, Replace With..., and Sell** with an 'Wear...' button greyed out. Tilting her head slightly she moused over the 'sell' button before clicking on it. There, she got a prompt asking if she was sure with 'Yes' or 'No'. She clicked on 'yes' and there was another 'cha-ching' before her top disappeared.

**+$15**

Yes, she was topless. In a woman's bathroom. Where anyone could walk in. In nothing but her panties. She glanced down at her breasts as if surprised to see them before she quickly went back to the 'Top' slot and clicked on it. This time, all the options were greyed out except the **Wear...** button. She clicked on it quickly before a miniature window popped up that showed all her clothes. She guessed that if she went to her Inventory there would be her new clothes. This was just a way to have them easier to find, especially once she gets more stuff to put in her inventory.

Willow clicked on her new top and before she could blink, she was wearing it and the box had disappeared. The 'Top' slot was filled with a picture of the shirt she was wearing. “Ooohhh, soft fabric.” She mumbled to herself, hands roaming all over her figure in an NON-SEXUAL WAY YOU PERVERTS!!!!!!

She continued this pattern of putting her clothes on until she was fully dressed. That was, until she forgot she needed underwear of course. So, she bought those before adding them to wear as well. Adding her new bag as an accessory allowed her to use it and carry it and whatever. Made it a lot easier to deal with without her having to figure out how that whole thing would work.

Now that she was dressed in clothes that she could actually blend in with she then proceeded to wash her face the best she could with water and a paper towel. She had to brush through her hair and tease it with her fingers but she got it to be in it's usual wild and wavy state. However, she found herself missing her usual clothes and style.

But, she could deal.

After managing to go to her inventory and extract a couple of hundreds in case she needed to buy something (Stuffing the money into her bra unceremoniously), she then managed to stuff her laptop into the large bag, albeit with some difficulty.

She gave her reflection a good once over before giving herself a determined look.

_You can do this!_

After the encouraging words she exited the bathroom confidently.

And  **that** was basically how she got into the groove of things.

Now, I **could** go into detail about how she went out for lunch and got leered at a lot. Before I would then go into detail about how she got a room at a hotel (Warwick New York Hotel, to be specific) for the rest of the day where she spent that time figuring out her 'abilities' and testing things out. However, one thing you may be interested with her little exploration was that she maxed out all of her stats.

You know the stats, right? Strength, Speed, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence? Yeah, as soon as she got to her room she immediately maxed out all her stats with a cheat. Although, oddly enough, she could not get her skills beyond 100 which was the max for human ability. Except for her Intelligence which could go up to 120. She couldn't go up any higher than that, no matter how she tried to do it. The reason being that a pop-up happened right in front of her scaring the literal shite out of her. The pop-up box read:

 

**You have attempted a bypass. You have not unlocked this yet. To unlock these levels you must unlock a special meeting and event.**

 

Willow was not pleased but accepted it without much fuss considering how she was even more awesome with her advanced abilities. (Her words, not mine) And she even got some pop ups as she leveled up.

Like, as she leveled her strength up she had a higher HP and MP which was now at 2,000 health and mana instead of 200. Every level equals to 20 HP and MP. Leveling up her speed also increased her intake skills. Helping with how fast she noticed things. Like, if she had 20 speed she would not notice a football flying at her head full speed. At 30 she would notice it but too late. At 40 she would be able to dodge it or maybe catch it if she was lucky. At 50 she would have no problem catching it. Get it? (Just a complete bullshit example, it's more specific then that.)

Agility helped with how graceful she handled things. It led to her being unlikely to trip. Being able to be flexible and move her body and contort it. Also helps with balance and steadiness overall. Helps with everything primarily. Stamina? Kinda self-explanatory but it does have a bit more. Shows how much you can run or just how much you can do before getting tired and such. Also can show just how much your body can take before collapsing from exhaustion or otherwise.

Intelligence? Well, she had a high intelligence anyway. It's just how smart you are. How quickly you catch onto things, how much information you can take in and for how long you can take it in. Kinda hard to explain everything intelligence does but, you get it. Although, since Willow 'capped out' with Intelligence she now has an eidetic memory. (As stated from the pop-up boxes that spammed her as she maxed out everything.) She is now as prepared and as badass as she could be until she did the special event or whatever.

She also tested out just how far her reach could go with the laptop. And it was great! It was as if she had her same laptop from her previous universe except the placement was different... and she had infinite wifi apparently. She could literally google Iron Man or Captain America or even Black Panther and she'd get the usual search results. Apparently her laptop gave no shites about the fact that with the laptop, she was literally the most useful person in the world or something like that.

However, there was a question that still plagued her.

_Was she the only person who could use the laptop?_

Automatically, you would have 1 of 2 beliefs. The first being that yes, others could use the laptop. Meaning that she would have to be careful with where she left it, where she used it, and how she used her 'powers' because humans aren't stupid. Not in this time period and especially not in the future. She had to have some sort of moderation otherwise she would get a lot of attention brought onto herself. Attention she did not want or need.

The second belief was that no, she was the only one that could use the laptop. Further meaning that maybe it had some sort of perception filter on it that prevented people from focusing on it or paying any attention to it? After all, while she was walking no one even spared a glance at her laptop. It could have been because of her uncovered body was distracting or it could have been because they truly **did not notice the laptop.**

Depending on the person, it could tip into either category.

Willow?

Well, she would assume the second just based on the cluelessness of the people she passed by. But, her high intelligence allowed her to also weigh in the pros and cons of the first option. And it was with that... that she decided to keep the laptop as safe as possible. At least until a time in the future where she could test out whether or not people noticed what was on her screen.

And with that thought, another question plagued her during the night right before she went to bed.

_Would she age?_

While the most obvious choice would be 'No', she was forced to think through the other option. After all, she'd read fanfiction where the main character aged. It was not that far off! But, at the same time, there was no other option but the answer to be 'No'.

In her description for her character, it said that she was brought to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And at this point in time from what she could remember from the Marvel Timeline, nothing was gonna happen until about 2008. 2008 was when Tony Stark turned into Iron Man basically and the events of the 1stmovie happened. Sure, a few years before Bruce Banner had turned into the Hulk but she was far away from those events. And the first movie to get her fully dedicated into the MCU was the 1st Iron Man Movie so she felt that she had to be there for it.

How was she going to be a part of it?

She didn't know.

But, she should have **plenty** of time to come up with an plan.

Either way, nothing really happened at this point in time and so there would be no point in bringing her into the MCU at this point in time if she was just gonna grow old and such by the time the events really happened. She would be 50 for fucks sake!

I mean, come on! Could you imagine a 50 year old running around and such with the Avengers, kicking ass?

**No way.**

So, this only further added onto her belief that she would not age. Or, at the very least, she would age slower so that she could still look young by the time she reached the events of Iron Man.

And with that thought soothing her worries for the time, she was able to finally sleep. She'd worry about what she was going to do next in the morning.

 

**-DG-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo? What did you think? Oh, I hoped you liked it! To be honest, I did have some formatting and spacing issues and had to go back through and change some things but I still think it turned out okay. I hope you had fun with it, at least? Any ideas you wanna give to me? Anything you wanna tell me, please leave it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! And, to have some extra fun, I am going to link a little poll riiiigggghhhht HERE:
> 
> https://linkto.run/p/WN4YXXAK
> 
> With this poll, you'll be able to vote on who you want to see Willow interact with in the story. Like, who are you excited to see her interact with? I'm genuinely curious. And you can also comment down below if you want to expand on your reasoning, I'm very curious.
> 
> Anywho, I won't hold you up anymore. Thank you for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter~


	3. Adventure of a Lifetime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Willow gets involved with a certain someone and 'LOL's happen. (AKA the writer really having fun with the somewhat crack-like world she's created)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovelies and welcome to another chapter! Now, this one was actually really fun to write, albeit a bit difficult. I'm trying to make everything flow together in a nice yet unique way. And I promise we'll get to a more traditional style of writing after these first couple of chapters. I just really want each section of Willow's life to feel... different, even if it's through the tone of writing. ALSO, the results of the poll are in and I was actually really surprised at the results!
> 
> In first place, we have our baby boy Tony. Love that for us. Then, in second place, most surprisingly at all, we had Natasha! I guess we got some Black Widow fans in here and you guys are looking forward to those interactions. All in due time, young scallywags. Interestingly enough, Thor and Loki are tied for third place! To be fair, I'm excited to write them into the story as well. And, uh, I have some PLANS for Loki. He's my man.
> 
> Then, bringing up the rear we have Bruce-y bear and Doctor Strange bringing up a tie for 4th. And ooooo, coming in last place we have a 4-way tie with: Steve, Clint, Coulson, and (from a special reader, you know who you are~) Bucky! 
> 
> I shall take all of your desires into consideration when I write the next chapters and onwards! 
> 
> I actually really liked making a poll for you guys to have input on! I'll do my best to include those when necessary or just when I have fun ideas on how to utilize it!
> 
> Anywho, I won't hold you up as I know you'll want to go ahead and read. Have fun! I'll talk to you all when you're finished~

**-DG-**

**Her stats:**

**Name: Willow O'Neil**

**Age: 25**

**Level: 1**

**Species: ?**

**Class: Gamer**

**Health: (2000/2000)**

**Mana: (2000/2000)**

**STR: 100**

**SPD: 100**

**AGL: 100**

**STA: 100**

**INT: 120**

**Description: Willow was a young girl brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a careless wish. She is now an entirely new species with the abilities to see the world as a video game and hack the world around her. She could be a force for good or a force for evil, it is her choice. Either way, she would have fun doing it.**

**-DG-**

Now, Willow could go into a crap ton of detail in regards to what she'd done over the years. However, that would take forever to go over. So, let's just do a summary.

When we last saw Willow, she was testing the limits of the world she had been dropped in, and was most disappointed when she realized that the only way to extend her stats beyond their current maxed out point was to have specific life events. But there was no way to figure out what those were, so Willow was…stuck. Stuck playing by the rules of this game, which even her cheat codes couldn't crack.

So, she was left at the peak of human potential, the best she could be without branching into inhuman territory.

Then, she had an epiphany. Literally.

It was the next day and she'd ordered breakfast to her hotel room. She was eating some fresh fruit and reading over the information about as many Marvel characters as she could. After all, she might as well put her photographic memory to use. And it was while she was doing that… that it occurred to her.

What am I gonna do for a cover?

The thought was something that hadn't occurred to her. Then again, she'd been a bit busy. However, it was a big deal and it was definitely something she'd have to genuinely think about. How could she possibly hope to blend into this time period?

Sure, in the year 1920, women gained voting rights. And it was the 70s so women were definitely doing well for themselves. And by that, she meant that women were really standing up for themselves. Doing a 'man's job' and getting more work and doing… more. It was actually a very good time and a definitive time where change was happening.

So, she was currently in a pretty good era compared to what she could've been stuck with. However, she would still have to prove herself to any misogynistic arseholes who might have something to say. And with that, she had another thing to think about.

What would her job be?

Sure, she could definitely do something like 'Office Worker' or 'Teacher' but… those were far too limited and boring. And she couldn't be a Construction Worker either. Sure, she would be able to lift a lot of things quite easily with her great strength, but that would raise a few eyebrows. And it would bring the kinda attention she really did not want or desire at this point.

And it was during this contemplation that it occurred to her.

Eyes flickering to her laptop, she scooched back so that her back rested against the headboard. Bringing her laptop to her lap, she proceeded to use google to search up 'Booming companies in the 70's'. She was greeted with an onslaught of information about some of the biggest wins and crashes.

Then, she searched the 80's.

Then, the 90's.

2000's.

Biting her lip to conceal a big grin, she nodded to herself. She would invest in companies.

Make a few 'lucky' investments to build her own collection of money over time. Moving where needed in order to succeed. Of course, she would need to allow herself to face a few downfalls but not too many. Enough to throw suspicion off but not too many that it takes away from her overall success.

It's a great way to make her having so much money to throw around much less odd. Sure, she'd definitely gain some attention with her being a woman and all but it was no big deal. She's dealt with attention before, she's not scared.

So, after giving herself that pep talk in some feigned attempt to make herself feel better, she bought herself some more… professional clothing. (Long skirt with a button-up blouse and a blazer. Paired with heels because… of course she would.)

And it was then… that something else occurred to her. (Thank you, intelligence.)

She would have to be careful. She couldn't let what she looked like or anything get out. She'd need a cover. After all, if she was going to be investing into companies and such, she would need to manufacture some sort of background for herself. That way she could explain why she has money to throw around and invest with.

So, sitting back down, she brought her laptop to her lap once more and spent the next couple of hours studying everything she could on hacking. With her photographic memory, she had no problem memorizing everything she read. Unfortunately, she had no real challenging places to test out her hacking skills. Sure, she was able to easily hack into the computers in the office building beside her.

However, it was no real challenge. And would be nothing compared to the technology that would arise in the upcoming years. But, it was practice. And, after that, she spent time thinking up and creating a background for herself. After all, she couldn't survive on just giving money to those around her. She needed something to fall back on.

And by the time night came, she'd lost her blazer and had kicked off her heels. Her shirt was unbuttoned, revealing the bra underneath and she was content with herself. She'd successfully manufactured an online file for herself so that if anyone searched for her, a file would be there with all of her 'information'. She tried to keep it as truthful as she could. Labeling herself as an 18-year-old girl who graduated high school at 15. She laid it on thick when it came to her 'brilliance'. Giving herself straight A's and labeling herself as a 'kind' and 'helpful' person as deemed by her 'teachers'.

Made herself into the loner type (Not far off) with no friends (To get sympathy) and a heart of gold! (She might have added a lot of cheesiness to it but cheesy works in this case.) She printed off everything, put it into a file, and stuffed it somewhere into her purse for backups. (And yes, she gave herself a fake birth certificate. It was actually surprisingly easy to manufacture it once she had the template. And Photoshop is truly a brilliant and wonderful thing.)

And when she arrived at the bank the next day, all charming smiles and expensive jewelry (Polyvore makes brilliant jewelry), the bank tellers were putty in her hands. She was able to weasel her way past any prying questions and reluctance, spinning a tale of her father dying and leaving all his fortune to her. (Of course, she added in a dead mother as well. If she was going to be a superhero or something, the dead parents were a must-have.)

An hour later, she walked out with a new bank account and $5,000 lighter. The first thing she invested in was the brand new company, Apple. The company had been created that year and she wanted to capitalize on their impending growth. Of course, she took into consideration Stark Phones and Stark Tablets and all the like so she knew Apple wouldn't be #1 like in her own universe. But, they would still be extremely popular for the next few decades, and then, she'll begin to spread her money to Stark Enterprises when it begins to dip it's toes into the tech world. It's a waiting game, really. And she has plenty of it.

After that, it became a pattern of knowing who to invest in and when they needed to pull their funds. Sure, it was great to have a cash flow coming in and all, but it was always good to make friends with companies that would soon grow to become huge in the upcoming years.

Then, 3 years later in 1979, she went off to Massachusetts. (Which may or may not have anything to do with the fact that a young 15-year-old Tony Stark would be going to MIT in 1983. Nope, definitely not at all.) There, she got a nice little apartment all to herself that she can be all cozy and comfortable in.

And this was the year that she had, what she liked to call, her "Experimental Period". Here, she ended up experimenting with all sorts of cheats and ways to change the world in front of her. One of the first cheats she thought of trying was the cheat in sims where she could freeze all her needs. Meaning? She would no longer feel hungry or thirsty. Would no longer have to go to the bathroom. Would no longer have to shower or anything as her hygiene would never 'go down'. It was something that she thought of.

However, …

She decided against it.

She liked feeling hungry and the satisfaction of curing the ache with delicious food. She enjoyed not drinking and then feeling the coolness of water or the heat of tea as it ran down her throat. She enjoyed the relief of relieving herself after being forced to wait in traffic for half an hour.

There were so many things she would miss that made her… human, she guessed. She found herself unable to do it, no matter how easy it would be. Who knows? She might change her mind in the future but currently? No. She would end up regretting it.

Then, there was a bunch of other stuff that she tried in an attempt to bypass that 'special event' she needed to do in order to further improve her skills. But, alas, she was unsuccessful, much to her annoyance. There were so many other things she did, but writing them down would take nearly as long as she spent doing them, and nobody has the time to do so.

And, after contemplation, she decided to go ahead and try to get into MIT so that by the time Tony showed up, she'd already be there.

In other fanfictions she'd read, the main lead would usually end up bumping into one of the Canon Characters by this point.

So, she wanted to progress through… whatever this is.

She even decided to study Mechanical Engineering much like Tony, as a way to have some kind of connection to him prior to their meeting.

It was actually pretty easy to get into MIT. Considering her literally perfect grades (With some sneaky hacking skills) and considering just how rich she was? Yeah, they were practically drooling when she sent in her application for their college. (Of course, she had to make a call to them and make them aware of the fact that she was trying to stay inconspicuous and wanted no one to know about her success. She claimed that she was frightened of the spotlight and what would come of it. They, while confused and unsure, went along with it.)

After that, it was a blur. She spent most of her time off-campus when she wasn't in class. Considering she read all she could on Mechanical Engineering the day before she started her first day, she found it to be quite… simple for her.

Now, there weren't many women in this college. Sure, there were enough to make her content and where she wasn't stared at 24/7. However, considering the comparison to 2016? Yeah, it was noticeable to her. But, it was great progress. And women weren't treated like complete crap here so she was able to relax and 'focus' on her studies.

Outside of college, she spent most of her time walking around and just exploring. She was in the 1980's! Even over the past few years, she still hadn't gotten over it. She was doing something many had only dreamed of. Something that people would kill for. It made her grin uncontrollably every time she thought of it.

And, of course, there was the biggest drawback. Which was the fact that she would never see her family and friends again. However, over the years, she'd gotten over it. Somewhat. She no longer cried at night or found herself dazing off for hours while thinking of her old life. So, yeah. Definite progress.

This all leads to the present… finally.

Willow whistled to herself as she practically skipped through the campus, papers clutched to her chest. She could feel the resigned gazes of those around her and didn't bother looking over at them.

Over her past 4 years at this college, she'd gained a bit of a… reputation at this school. To them, she was this brilliant student who was a female none the less. She was the smartest student and garnered lots of envy and admiration from those around her. Envy and Jealousy because of how smart she was and how… simple she made everything appear to be. Admiration… because of how smart she was. Those that weren't clouded by jealousy were very interested in her and found her to be a very good role model. Someone they wanted to be like and besides, she was a really chill person in their eyes.

It also helps that she is very attractive and isn't afraid to show a little skin. (Not too much though as in this time, lest she is labeled a harlot or something.) Here, geeky and nerdy was actually a thing that people found attractive.

She had her fair share of men trying to get her attention but she waved them off. She had better things to worry about, having to juggle a relationship as well? Never.

She actually graduated with her degree in Mechanical Engineering the previous week. She just had to give her professor her blueprints for the small robot she made for her final assignment. It was a small thing that she put half-effort into. It's only function at the time was to roll around and pick up trash. Of course, since she'd taken it home, she'd done some upgrades but that's a whole other thing. She promised her professor she'd drop off the blueprints so he could use them as an example for his next set of students. Wasn't a big deal so she complied.

She'd already signed up for her next class, actually: Electrical Engineering. According to the google, Tony came to MIT when he was 15 to study Electrical Engineering and graduates when he is 17. And, considering it was 1983, he would be coming this year soon. Considering classes were already starting back and the electrical engineering class would be starting within the week, he would definitely have to be here.

So, she was just passing time while she waited for the day to come.

She thought everything through already. For example:

The age difference.

Sure, she would be forever 18. That was something she'd have to keep in mind. However, it might not be that bad. After she graduates college, she would just leave. Travel the world for a while and not put down any permanent roots. Maybe come back here every once in a while to check on her funds in the bank. (Then again, she'd accumulated enough money to be able to live comfortably for the next 50 years or so. Maybe not in luxury but it was enough. So, if she didn't invest in anymore companies or if she only did it every once in a while, it wouldn't be a big deal or something too out of the ordinary.)

Then, when the events of Iron Man were soon to happen she would come back. She'd dazzle Tony Stark with her brilliance and become a Canon Character by the time the movie's events started.

Currently, she had no plans of talking to Tony Stark. She didn't wish to form any sort of relationship with him now. It would raise a lot of questions by the time she eventually came to him in the next 20ish years. Now? She was simply… a watcher. She would be working on her degree while also figuring out how Tony worked and getting an idea on his personality at this point in his life.

Before his parent's deaths.

And about that… she'd considered changing the events and trying to save them. She wasn't sure just how she would do it but she considered trying. However, she quickly decided against that. If she attempted to save them… what would be changed? Tony and his actions would be different certainly. The entire world would be changed actually.

And could you imagine Howard, Tony, and Steve in a room together?

Willow would imagine it to be both horrifying and hilarious if she was honest.

But, ignoring that, she couldn't. She would change the Canon too much. Or, put herself on the radar sooner than she would like. It was too much of a risk.

So, to summarize, her checklist is as follows:

**Study electrical engineering and get her degree.**

**Watch Tony from afar and make notes for any potential changes with his behavior.**

**After graduation, travel around the world and explore.**

**Pending:** **Go back to New York for both nostalgic value and to check on her account.**

**Show up about a year before the events of Iron Man in order to integrate herself in the life of Tony Stark.**

**Charm the pants off this man. (Both figuratively and perhaps literally because… look at him. It's Robert Downey Jr!)**

**Kick ass and become an Avenger. (Speaking of which, she should teach herself martial arts and check to see if she could either get herself powers or find a way to minimize her laptop into a tablet or a phone to make it more portable and accessible.)**

**POSSIBLY get involved in other movies.**

With a nod to herself, she continued on the way to her professor's class.

**-DG-**

Willow adjusted her glasses absently, eyes flickering back and forth from the directions in front of her and the motherboard in front of her. Currently, Willow was in her electrical engineering class and everyone was doing their own individual assignments. The assignment is to properly put together a motherboard for a computer.

It was perhaps a bit advanced considering it was the 4th day of class but whatever. It wasn't that big of a deal. They weren't expected to make it actually work. Just to get all the components in the right place and to prove that they'd actually done the reading.

And although it was supposed to be an individual assignment, people were working together and chatting with each other. The professor would simply look up every once in a while from his book and shake his head, frowning.

Then again, what was he expecting?

When you have Tony Stark in your class, people were going to chat and revert to the mindset of a middle-schooler who met their hero. Willow's eyes flickered up and to the right, at a group of women eyeing Tony Stark like a piece of meat. Or like a bunch of dogs in heat, she thought, snickering to herself.

Guess age is but a number then, eh? She then finally moved her attention to the man everyone was creaming their panties over.

Tony Stark.

He is extremely gorgeous for a 15-year-old. If she was a freshman again, she would be drooling.

Oh, who was she kidding? She's still 18 on the inside for fucks sake even if she was technically 25, who cares? She still finds herself staring at him sometimes. And speaking of which, wow. She's 25. She's been in this universe for 7 years now. Sometimes she forgets how much time passes.

When you don't age, time seems to move quicker and become a lot more lenient. It's weird and something she'd only read about. To actually experience it? Very weird.

Frustratingly enough, everyone around campus thought she was 18 or 19. Which, by that logic, would mean that she was 14 or 15 when she first came here and got her first degree. And while she is pleased that people believe that she is smart enough to have graduated high school that early, (Because she is.) it does force her constantly inform people that she is 25. She suspects that some don't believe her but, what can you do?

Shaking away her distracting thoughts, she returned her attention to her assignment. But, it was then that she saw that she'd finished it. Apparently, while she was dazed off, she's been on auto-pilot and had finished the rest of it. Picking it up, she analyzed the clunky item from various angles.

In the future, they would get slimmer and fancier. At this time, the motherboard was clunky and big and wasn't as powerful.

Eyeing it with slight interest, she tore her eyes away and stood up swiftly.

She was the first one finished. Based on Tony's progress, he should be done in a few minutes. She idly wondered, as she walked over to the professor's desk, if Tony ever had someone finish before him. Erasing her thoughts, she paused in front of the teacher's desk, motherboard clasped in her hands tightly.

"Professor Dawson?" The tired-looking man looked at her with weary eyes behind thin frames. Once he registered who she was, he subtly straightened his back. He cleared his throat before speaking to her.

"Yes, Ms. O'Neil?"

"I've finished the assignment."

That caught the teacher off guard and, if the burning into the back of her head was any indication, she caught the attention of those around her.

"Y-you're finished? You do know that you don't have to turn in the assignment until next week… right?"

Giving a quick nod, Willow moistened her lips before responding. "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to get over it and have it finished." Shaking the motherboard slightly for emphasis.

Professor Dawson eyed her before holding out a hand expectantly. Carefully placing the motherboard in his hand, her hands clasped each other subconsciously as she watched him check out her work. Chewing on her bottom lip, she became unable to keep quiet.

"Is it alright?"

Her professor didn't look at her, instead adjusting his glasses and peering even closer at the circuitry with befuddlement. "H-how?" He whispered, finally looking up at her with wide brown eyes.

Her eyes flickered to the right, her left hand adjusting her glasses before she turned her attention back to her professor.

"I have hobbies."

Her professor turned his attention back to the motherboard, clearly stupefied by her successful motherboard. Then again, with the parts they were given they should've been limited in what they could do. But… she was just so good that she was able to make it complete enough to be used in an actual computer instead of being an incomplete model like everyone else's.

Not to be cocky.

Stopping in front of her workspace, she sat down on her stool. She adjusted her glasses once more with a sigh before going ahead and taking them off, staring down at them. She has always used glasses in her previous universe. Not because she had bad eyesight really. She just needed to use them whenever she was focusing on something or reading something. So, she used them only once in a while.

Feeling the gaze of someone burning into her head, she glanced up. She met **his** stare. Yes, **his**. You know who he is, right? (Psst, it's Tony in case you didn't know.)

He was looking at Willow with curiosity. His head was tilted to the side with a small smirk on his face. Even though people were talking around him, he didn't bother looking at them. He continued to stare shamelessly, even throwing in a teasing wave when he saw her look over and notice him.

_Oh, fu-._ She quickly looked down, cheeks burning a deep red color. _Tony-Fucking-Stark was staring at me. Me! Yes, I know that in the future I would end up meeting him and stuff. HOWEVER, it wasn't supposed to happen this soon! He was supposed to just ignore me and focus on partying and getting laid and stuff!_

Willow closed her eyes and took in a calming breath. "Okay." She mumbled, scratching the back of her neck.

_You could be overthinking it. Maybe he just thinks you're hot. Maybe he just saw that you turned in your assignment first and was intrigued. He'll have some girl falling over him practically begging to suck him off regardless of any age difference. He'll be distracted soon enough._

She glanced back up at him quickly, before looking away again with a frown.

_He. Was. Still. Staring!_

**-DG-**

Willow uncrossed her legs before crossing them again as she shifted slightly. She chewed on her lip and narrowed her eyes at the paper in front of her. She was currently sitting in the main courtyard under a big tree, surrounded by a bunch of other people going about their day or who were sitting around with their friends. Some were also doing homework or studying in groups.

She was currently writing out her schedule for the rest of the week. Over the years, she'd come to realize that she had a bit of a… thing for order. She liked having some idea as to what she would do and what she needed to do during the week. And if anything new popped up, she would go along with it and change things if needed.

Sure, you could argue that because of her memory she would be able to remember everything she needed to do and would do. You would be bringing up a good point. However, she liked the normality. She used to make lists and schedules all the time in her old universe. It was just something she did and she enjoyed it. It just kinda… stuck.

She was brought from her schedule-making when a form plopped down on the grass beside her. She let out an embarrassing 'eep', almost smacking herself in the face with her flailing.

Tony-Motherfucking-Stark just looked at her with amusement at her suffering, a stupidly attractive grin on his young face.

"You know, I'm rather used to people falling over me and such. But, uh… I've never had someone almost smack themselves at the sight of me."

Cheeky bastard, she thought to herself, trying to compose herself and pointedly not looking at him. She would not speak to him. Why was he even over here, anyway?

Tony seemed to catch on, as he chuckled seemingly in disbelief. "Wow, you are something. Really something. The silent treatment, hmm? Well, you'd might as well give up on that because you **intrigue** me," Her eyes, much against her will, flickered over to look at him. "And there's no way in hell that I'm leaving you alone now."

To prove his point, he put his books down beside himself. Crossing his arms and crossing his legs in a mockery of her own position, he looked at her with a pleased expression.

She narrowed her eyes at him before a smirk that would've made her friends proud reached her features. Tony raised an eyebrow. "Well, Mr. Stark, unlike ta' other women 'ere who are clearly willin' to do whatever you want, I'm not them. So, if ya think that I'm just gonna open my legs to ya and 'et ya 'ave at it, you've los' it. So, considerin' ya aren't gettin' none, 'eave me be." The Irish accent that aggressively took over her voice made Tony's eyes widen in genuine surprise with a hint of glee.

With that, she grabbed her items and clambered to her feet. She didn't look at him as she walked away confidently, making sure not to look back.

"You know that I'm definitely not gonna leave you alone now, right?!" Tony called after her, not getting up from his position.

"Looking forward to it!" Willow responded, not turning back.

The cockiness and overall adrenaline of that moment faded away quickly and she was left with the thoughts of her actions.

She was unable to control her temperament and overall… sassiness. Because of it, her accent was like 'fuck yeah' and showed up against her will. (She needs to work on that, honestly. It's just getting her into trouble at this point.) She ended up calling him out and left him intrigued.

_Have you not read fanfic?! Do you not know how this goes? Girl is sassy and stands up to an attractive and overall awesome guy who is used to getting what he wants. Know what happens? She gives him a challenge and he ends up going after her and trying to either sleep with her or get her to fall for him. You read a Tony Stark fanfic just like that for fucks sake! What were you thinking?!_

Willow chewed on her lip.

She did gain his interest. He would not leave her alone now until… what? He slept with her? That was not gonna happen. Became friends with her? Besties or whatever? Possibly.

Tony Stark grew attached. Pepper and Rhodey and even Bruce were big examples. If he grew to care about someone genuinely then he never left them alone. He was like the best/worst parasite you could ever have. If she didn't somehow shake him or get him to leave her alone or lose interest in her, he would not let her just leave him that easily when graduation came.

And when he got JARVIS? Oh, he would track her down and find her. No matter how far she ran.

Once Tony Stark is in your life, he will not leave.

_"Fuck…"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo? What did you think? I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. And yes! I HAD to add Tony, it was too perfect for me not to! And yes, I may have a gigantic crush on Tony Stark/Robert Downey Jr. but - who doesn't? I liked being able to just write in such a lax way, just kind of glazing over certain things and just having fun. Because really, if you try and logic everything out and think about it a bit too hard, then you'll probably be left even more confused or with more questions. It's just nice to kind of not give a fuck and do whatever I want.
> 
> Also, this chapter and the next were both written by me a while ago, maybe a year now. So, I'll do my best to make it a smooth transition, although I kinda picked the best place to pause. We'll be doing a flash forward to get into the movies, kinda glazing over what Willow did. (Leaving it open for some red herrings later, of course.) And I'm so excited to be able to find modern outfits for her and being able to update the Pinterest. Oh, Pinterest is [here](https://www.pinterest.com/TheBubblegumQueen/dysfunctional-gamer-a-avengers-fanfic/) by the way!
> 
> Anyway, I won't hold you up any longer as you probably have other things to do. I hope you guys have a wonderful day and I'll see you in the next one. Bah Bye~


	4. House of Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Willow doesn't hate the tiny boy - not one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I forgot to post a chapter yesterday. I was all wrapped up in the festivities and high of eating a bunch and letting myself forget all my responsibilities! My bad, hehe. But, here is the next chapter of Dysfunctional Gamer! Hmm... anything else... oh! I have a link in the end notes to my kofi page that I created (completely optional of course). And I also changed up how the links are displayed to make them cleaner and a more permanent part of everything. And I also reset the poll so that you guys can kind of give me an idea as to who you want to see her interact with next! I do have a plot structure in mind but I wouldn't mind slipping in some special moments with whatever character you guys vote for~
> 
> Anywho, hope you enjoy it!

**Her stats:**

**Name: Willow O'Neil**

**Age: 27**

**Level: 1**

**Species: ?**

**Class: Gamer**

**Health: (2000/2000)**

**Mana: (2000/2000)**

**STR: 100**

**SPD: 100**

**AGL: 100**

**STA: 100**

**INT: 120**

**Description: Willow was a young girl brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a careless wish. She is now an entirely new species with the abilities to see the world as a video game and hack the world around her. She could be a force for good or a force for evil, it is her choice. Either way, she would have fun doing it.**

 

**-DG-**

 

“Why won’t you just **LEAVE ME ALONE?”**

 

Willow glared at the smug Tony Stark, his arms loosely crossed as he stared back at her without a care in the world. His posture only made her left eye twitch in annoyance before he finally responded.

 

“Because I looooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve you!” He drew out the word ‘love’ for a good 7 seconds. Willow just stared.

 

_Why?_

 

With a masterful eye roll, she turned on her heel and marched away leaving a pouting Tony.

 

“Come on! I profess my love to you and you just leave? That’s reeeaaallllyyy messed up, you know. Wait! No seriously, wait!”

 

**-DG-**

 

**Thunk.**

 

_He never leaves. He… he’s like a parasite. A dreadfully handsome parasite with the voice of a god and the charm of Dean Winchester, Lucifer Morningstar, and… Tony Stark… I regret everything._

 

It’s been 3 months. 3 long, torturous months of Tony-Motherfucking-Stark basically stalking her. Showing up in all her classes out of nowhere (Such a coincidence, huh?), random gifts being given to her as presents from random people (food, jewelry, clothes- How the fuck did he get her measurements?- and spare parts.), following her around outside of class when she least expects it, and even sending people her way to try and mention how awesome 'That Tony Stark Fellow' was.

 

All of that… for 3 months straight. Day after day. The only relief she gets is when she leaves campus and is at home. To be honest, she is just WAITING for a gift to show up at her apartment. She’s honestly surprised it hasn’t happened yet.

 

Willow lets out a groan from her position at a picnic table, said groan muffled due to her face being pressed up against it.

 

“ **WILLOW!”**

 

Had her reflexes not kicked in, the sudden shout of her name would have resulted in Willow falling off the table. Looking up with wide eyes, she was greeted by the sight of Tony Stark jogging towards her with a big grin. A feeling of exasperation went through her. _I should’ve played dumb,_ she thought with a sigh as she got to her feet while stretching. _I mean, I’m at a random park for fucks sake. How did he even find me?_

 

She let out a groan, knowing what was coming next.

 

_Welp, I’ve gotten more exercise these past 3 months than I ever have… ever._

 

Willow immediately took off running, ignoring the sounds of Tony whining as he ran behind her.

 

**-DG-**

 

“See? Isn’t it amazing how these things turn out?” Tony asked a displeased Willow, arm tossed over her shoulder as they walked through the courtyard. “I mean, if it wasn’t for that class, I would have never met you and you would have never met me! And what a tragedy that would’ve been. This was clearly fate!”

 

“Hmm,” Willow started mockingly, face moving into an expression of exaggerated thought. “If I recall correctly, you pretty much stalked me for **months** afterwards. Yeah, some fate.” She scoffed, and Tony simply pouted before falling limp against her.

 

Willow, although she’d never admit it, gave a squeal of surprise as all of his weight landed on her. He wasn’t heavy by any means but the suddenness of it shocked her regardless.

 

“YOU KNOW YOU LUUUUVVVVVV ME!”

 

“Get off, you’re heavy!”

 

Tony gave a scoff in return, giving her a ‘Seriously’ look. “Me? Heavy? I have the body of a god, if you must know.”

 

“Suuuuuurrrrrrre.”

 

_He totally does, like… fuck._

 

**-DG-**

 

“Soooooo, Rhodey-Bear, this is Willy. Willy, this is Rhodey-Bear. I felt like it was about time you two met so... yeeeaaaah.”

 

Tony's awkward tone was rather fitting as he stood in the middle of his two best friends who were meeting for the very first time. It would've been perfect if not for the glares they were giving each other. Rhodey standing tall, arms crossed and feet shoulder length apart, nose flared as he stared at her head on. Willow wasn't backing down, arms hanging loosely at her side, body tense, with an infuriating smirk on her face even if her eyes were calculating.

 

Tony glanced between them, much like a child watching his parents fight. His eyebrows were furrowed and he worried his lip between his teeth. He didn't really plan on this happening. He thought they would meet each other, get along famously, and maybe he could slowly begin bringing up the topic of a polyamorous relationship with them and it would all be lovely.

 

But, as soon as Rhodey saw Willow and the way Tony hung off her, he seemed cold ever since, staring Willow down with an unfamiliar look in his eye. And then when Tony ran into Rhodey's arms, Willow seemed to go tense, her usual (now, at least) easy grin freezing and eventually twisting into the teasing smirk she now portrayed as she watched Rhodes closely.

 

Tony has literally no idea as to what to do about -

 

It seemed to dawn on him in an almost comedic fashion.

 

“Ohhhhhhhhhh.” He felt stupid.

 

Willow and Rhodey seemed to finally break their staring contest to look at him with near exact expressions of concern and also weariness at the giggling man. Tony waved away their concerned looks, too busy snickering at the sheer brilliance of this situation. Finally, after a few moments, he managed to compose himself, straightening just enough to finally speak.

 

“You two... are JEALOUS OF EACH OTHER! OVER ME! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

Willow and Rhodey gaped at the laughing man, turning to look at each other hesitantly before finally turning their gazes back to a gleeful Tony Stark who now appeared to be as happy as a cat who just got a fat tuna.

 

“We aren't jealous!” “We aren't jealous!” Both of them exclaimed at the same time, seeming to almost blush at the accusation. They glanced at each other again, the initial heat gone and instead leaving a bit of awkwardness between them before they turned back to Tony, beginning to both simultaneously rant about how they weren't at ALL jealous and how preposterous this all was.

 

Tony simple nodded along, the big grin on his face making it abundantly clear that he did not believe a single word out of their mouths.

 

After a couple of moments, the two seemed to give up, throwing their arms in the air as it became clear that Tony wasn't going to believe a single word they said. They looked at each other again and, although neither apologized for their childish actions, they gave each other small smiles – the first ones the two had exchanged.

 

“Finally! Now, we can move on from the awkward first meetings.” He looped his arms around both their necks, pulling them close as they walked out of the lab together. “And really, there is truly nothing to be ashamed of. I'm Tony Stark and I gave you both the honor of being my very best friends. It makes perfect sense that you both would, of course, feel territorial over yours truly. Hmm, maybe I should have let this continue. We could solve this dispute wiiiiiith a wrestling competition? In the rain? Shirtless? With me being able to film the whole thing?”

 

**Smack!**

 

“OOOOOWWWWW, GUYS! I WAS JUST KIDDING!”

 

**-DG-**

 

“Ah! So, this is the infamous Dum-E? It's a true pleasure to meet you!” Willow greeted the robot, bending a little to give the cute bot a pat. Dum-E gave an excited chirp in response, rubbing against her leg like a kitten causing Willow to giggle.

 

“Oi! Stop humping Willow!” Tony snapped his fingers at the bot, it giving a sad chirp in response, slowly moving away from Willow. This caused the redhead to give Tony a frown. “He was **not** humping me. He was rubbing against me like a kitten. It's so cute!” Willow cooed at the bot, kneeling a bit to be on his level so that she could pet him better. The cute thrills he emitted were worth any sore knees she would have from kneeling on the harsh concrete.

 

“Why don't you ever call me cute?” Tony pouted, glaring a bit at his clearly happy bot, crossing his arms over his oil-stained shirt. Willow arched an eyebrow at him, lips pulling up into a teasing little smirk.

 

“Aww. Is the big bad Tony Stark jealous of his own bot?”

 

“No!” Tony snapped, cheeks turning a pretty peach color. It was almost fascinating to see him open and close his mouth repeatedly, unable to even formulate a response to the accusations. And all he could do was simply huff and sulk away to another part of his father's workshop.

 

This caused Willow to snicker, pressing a small kiss onto Dum-E before standing, much to Dum-E's displeasure. “Don't worry, soon you'll have a little brother to play with! And maybe I'll bring Alvin down here. He'd be your... cousin... I guess.” Her eyes flickered down to the bot who still seemed to be sulking.

 

“Come on buddy. Let's go poke more fun at your salty daddy, yeah?” Dum-E gave a chirp before following after Willow as they approached a grumbling Tony, doing his darnest to not even glance at them.

 

**-DG-**

 

“RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN RUUUUUNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!” Tony screeched as the pair ran down the street, angry cries from a gang following after them.

 

“Why did you have to hit on the LEADER’S girlfriend?” Willow exclaimed, having to slow herself down to keep up pace with Tony. She found herself wishing Rhodey was there. They both could've taken turns watching Tony so that he wouldn't do stupid shit like this.

 

And this was why she never goes to the bathroom when she hangs out with Tony. Ever. It always leads to stuff like this happening. Every time. Without fail.

 

“I didn’t KNOW! I mean, I thought it was a bit weird that she was sitting on his lap and everything but it didn’t really OCCUR to me, ya know?”

 

Willow gave him an incredulous stare, him giving a ‘what?’ in return.

 

“You are the dumbest smart person I’ve ever met!” Willow hissed as she began speeding up a bit. “If I die, I swear to GOD, Tony! I will shove my foot so far up your-!”

 

“They have motorcycles!” Tony shrieked, bringing the attention back to the rapidly approaching gang.

 

_A motorcycle gang… are you kidding me?_

 

“RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Willow took over the yelling part, pumping her legs faster as she grabbed her friend’s hand, practically dragging him with her.

 

She'd never admit it, but, despite how angry she was at that moment, the grin on Willow's face was genuine.

 

_Maybe getting Tony’s attention so early… wasn’t such a bad thing?_

 

Looking at the horrified face beside her, she couldn’t help but laugh. Loudly and hysterically, making Tony look at her like **she** was the crazy one. But, she couldn’t stop. Tony Stark. This was a fucking comic book character that she’d talked to, laughed with, punched, kicked, teased, hung out with, and had some of her best memories with.

 

He was, legit, her best friend. _Her only friend, really. In this Universe, at least._

 

It’s just a shame it took them literally running for their lives for it to resonate with her. Regardless, she’d take these moments with him. Because in the back of her mind, she knew what day was approaching. 2 weeks away… graduation.

 

But, she would not think of that. She just wanted to spend time with him before…

 

**-DG-**

 

The pair sat in a diner, some song by some asshole playing in the background. It was a light and poppy song that seemed all the more ironic with the whirling storm inside of Willow’s body.

 

_Just be happy… okay? It’s your last night with him… make it count._

 

Tuning back in, Willow pasted on a smile and gave a laugh as Tony told this outrageously ‘Tony’ story. Nodding along as if she was paying attention, she took the time to study his faces. She just… stared.

 

She took in every curve, blemish, line, angle, and mark that made him so… him. Her hands clenched into fists under the table and she felt tears well up. She’d always hated crying, it made her feel weak. She knew that, scientifically, crying was good for the body. It was… a way to relieve tension and made you feel better. But, she hated it. Especially when she felt like crying in public… like now. It would raise too many questions.

 

_Distractions… I need distractions._

 

She forced herself to actually take in what Tony was saying.

 

“-you and Rhodey just ran. I mean, we had no idea that the place was ‘off limits’ for some kind of weird renovation thing. Speaking of which, I looked up the big shot renovation and it was literally just to redesign some bathrooms. Bathrooms. I mean… I’m not the only who thinks that’s a bit of an overkill, right? I mean, we were just looking around the property because of the rumors and we get chased off by police officers. It makes literally no sense to **this day.** ”

 

Willow found her smile become just a bit more genuine as she listened to Tony prattle on. This was one of the things she’d miss most about Tony. His stories and his energy. (No matter how outrageous he made the stories. Considering she was there for quite a few of them, you’d think he’d get that the over exaggerating would do no good.) Well, that and his ability to whine and complain but make it sound cute and make her **not** want to punch him in the face. It was truly a work of magic. (And considering magic is a real thing, thanks to Doctor Strange, it very well could be!)

 

Her eyes moved over to Tony, sitting there waving his arms around as he delved into another story.

 

Tony…

 

She couldn’t remember when she first heard of Iron Man. In the world she lived in, it was almost as if she’d always known him. Even if not as intimately as she did currently, she still felt like she’d always known his story. Tony Stark, otherwise known as Iron Man. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist with an ego bigger than the Avengers Tower and a brain just as big if not bigger. She’d had a crush on his character since she first hit puberty.

 

She wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe his looks? Maybe his intelligence? Personality? Wealth? Accomplishments? She had no idea. She’d like to think that it was a bit of everything put together. That there was something about him that made a younger Willow go out of her mind. (Let’s be real, older Willow would still fuck the shit out of him if given the chance. She’s not that far into denial.)

 

She’d come into the world with her own ideas on what Tony Stark would be like. She’d been like: _Huh, I’ve read_ _ **plenty**_ _of Tony Stark fanfiction in my life. I totally have him down. I’m gonna make him fall madly in love with me, steal him from Pepper (Love you girl!), and marry him. I think I know enough about him to be able to charm the pants off of him!_

 

Sure, her thoughts had been rather juvenile but, could you blame her? Some of you would **totally** be thinking the same thing, don’t lie!

 

Regardless, she’d underestimated him. And when she first spoke to him? She thought she had it all figured out. But… not at all. She knew barely anything.

 

Tony Stark was… probably one of the most cat-like people she’d ever met.

 

Like, seriously. All jokes aside. Where are all the #TonyStarkIsSecretlyACat fanfics and tags? He is like a ping pong ball, bouncing back and forth between crawling into her lap at random points in time looking for affection, to not wanting to touch people at all. He can have weird mood swings where he can be energetic and bouncy before becoming quiet and withdrawn into himself. He also loved to just crawl on top of people and just lay there like, ‘This is my human, bitch’. And she swears, he’s one of the sassiest people she’d ever met in her life. From tossing scathing remarks with the intent to hurt to being one of the cutest and most charming bastards on the planet. Not to mention him being able to go from 0 to 100 really quick, as evident from him punching this one guy in the face who’d made a joke about Willow being a slut. She’d mentioned it off-hand to Tony the next day and, 2 days later, Tony just punched the guy straight in the face out of nowhere. And, of course, Tony didn’t get kicked out because… he’s Tony Stark. You don’t kick Tony Stark out of your school. You just don’t.

 

There are more things too. But, these are just small things that he does that even **he** doesn’t seem to notice.

 

Like, whenever he’s thinking he’ll dance. Nothing outrageous, just a little shuffle of the feet. He’ll usually tap out some tune as if he’s tap dancing or waltzing. It’s honestly one of the cutest things she’s seen.

 

Then, he’d do small things that demonstrate his wealthy and polite upbringing. He’ll open the door for women, no matter the age or who they are. He’ll pull out her chair for her whenever the two of them are out somewhere. He’ll even refer to older people (Elders) as ‘ma’am’ and ‘sir’. It was honestly some of the cutest stuff she’d ever seen. Between this and the dancing, she just… couldn’t.

 

Then there’s just a whole bunch of other small stuff she noticed.

 

He bites his lip and his eyes go all dark whenever he thinks about sex.

 

Whenever he was writing something, he’d tap the fingers on his free hand against the table as if he was playing the piano.

 

He hated the taste of lemon and lime, and the only thing similar to it that he’d ingest would be lemon cookies.

 

Whenever he's sad or upset, he buries himself in his work, forgetting to eat, drink, shower, sleep. She'd known about some of this from the movies, of course. But, the first time she came upon him in this state, she nearly burst into his ears when he turned to her, movements slow and laggy, words slurred, and eyes bloodshot. She'd had nightmares about it. Had fears that she wouldn't hear from him for 2 weeks and would go to his workshop to see him dead from dehydration.

 

When he was happy, on the other hand, he lit up from the inside. He was like the sun, warm and intoxicating.

 

He gave the best hugs. He would wrap his arms around you tightly and you felt so warm and comforted. It was like nothing could hurt you when he had his arms around you.

 

He loved blueberries. Blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, blueberries on yogurt, or just straight blueberries. He loves them.

 

Whenever he was angry, he’d tense up so much that he felt completely stiff to the touch. He’d get this dark glint in his eye and would stare down whoever made him so upset. She’d only seem him this way a few times and, each time, someone ended up getting their ass kicked. It was rarely ever just Tony.

 

Those were just **some** of the things she noticed about Tony. Just **some** of the things that made him so… human. So… real.

 

Tony was… cocky. He was… confident. Reckless, brilliant, and unbelievably charming. He was… funny and unique, having the ability to surprise her over and over again. He was caring, regardless of what you, or even Tony himself, might think. He may put on this mask of being untouchable and ‘not giving a shit’. But, Willow knows the truth. She’s never seen someone care so much. She’s never seen someone put so much of themselves into something and just give it their all. It was honestly inspiring. He was one of the best people she’d ever met…

 

… _and I have to leave him…_

 

Willow told herself that she was doing the right thing. She had to preserve the timeline. If she just told him the truth or even mentioned her having powers, she’d be seriously changing the timeline. He wasn’t meant to know about magic or **anything** abnormal until **years** later. If she changed something that big, who knows what it would change? It could change things so much that her knowledge would get thrown completely out the window. Why? Because she’d be in an alternate universe from the Canon and she would have no real knowledge and would be left to roam around blind. And there was too much at risk for her to allow that to happen.

 

And she was selfish. So unbelievably selfish. She didn't want to lose her knowledge. Even if it would save Tony's parents.

 

So, it was best if she got some separation. She’d already gotten too attached and had changed enough as is. If she left now, she could still make things go along the same path they were supposed to.

 

Just say that she planned on leaving to travel around for a while and see the world. And that she wouldn't be able to come see him, really. She wouldn't cut him off completely, that would do no good. And she wasn't strong enough for that, nor cruel enough to just abandon Tony like that. She would still communicate with him verbally and would text him a bunch. She just... wouldn't be able to actually see him face to face. She wouldn't be able to let him see her just... period.

 

At least for a while.

 

And she wasn’t lying! She did plan on traveling after all. She’d do that and (years later considering she was basically immortal) she’d come back during the events of Iron Man 1, before he went to Afghanistan, and she would tell Tony everything… and hope that he understood.

 

He had to… he was a logical man and he’d know that her decision made sense. She’d sit him down and tell him **everything.** From the alternative universe she’s from to the comic books to the movies to even her abilities. She would even do some demonstrations if need be. He had to understand… he had to…

 

“Heellllooooo… Earth to Willow… Anyone in there?” A hand waved itself in front of her face and Willow found herself blinking, turning to her left where Tony was looking at her with an impatient expression and arched eyebrow.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You weren't listening to meeee.” Tony whined, a pout on his face as he reclined back in his seat. Willow couldn't stop the cheeky grin.

 

“I'm  **always** ignoring you, Tony.”

 

“Heeeeyyyy!”

 

Willow couldn't help but laugh. Everything was coming to her at once. The mock expression of hurt on Tony's face... the reality that this would be her last night with him for **years**... the fact that she really didn't want to lose him but needed to... the weight of her actions... it was all settling in.

 

And she couldn't stop laughing.

 

Tony eventually stopped with his expression, instead choosing to give her a weird look instead. It only made her laugh harder. The increased laughter made his look soften and he had this light in his eyes that she'd never seen before. It was... strange, to say the least... not that Willow noticed it.

 

“You... are the weirdest person I've ever met.”

 

_I love you too... you dick._

 

**-DG-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo? Whatcha think? Lemme know in the comment section down below! I always try to reply to comments but sometimes I miss one or it takes me a while and I apologize for that! Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed it! xoxo
> 
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**Author's Note:**

> So, what did you think? Did you like it? I know that it was a bit sucky but it’ll get better as it continues, promise! It’s just setting everything up so you can have some idea as to how this is gonna work. And I wonder if you noticed that I had her accent on at some points but then in others she was with a perfectly normal American accent. It is used to show you how she was feeling. If she was calm then it was American. If she started getting really emotional or something, it returned. And she also slips back into it whenever she is alone and is not in a ‘calm’ state.
> 
> I hope it wasn’t confusing!
> 
> If you have any hacks or cheats you wanna see Willow use, lemme know in the comments down below! Or of you're interested in being a Beta for me, feel free to let me know as well! I just want to hear your thoughts and see your opinions as this story can be rather... interesting to write as the first, like, 5 chapters are a retelling of how she first got here. And we won't get to the actual movies for a little while.
> 
> Also, I was thinking of making a Tumblr for this story as well as the others I do. Lemme know what you think about that, as well.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and didn't find it as cringe as I did, haha! Thanks for reading!


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